Aerodynamic Terminologies

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Aerodynamics
Aerodynamics deals with the motion of air
and the way it interacts with objects in
motion, such as an aircraft.

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 Aerodynamic Terminologies Aerodynamic
terminologies include

• Airfoil • Angle of Incident

– Leading Edge
• Angel of Attack
– Trailing Edge
– Chord • Axes of Aircraft
– Camber • Wing Span
– Mean Camber Line

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Aerodynamic Terminologies
Aerodynamic terminologies include

• Aspect Ratio
• Planform
• Dihedral
• Anhedral
• Center of Pressure
• Wing Loading
• Sweep Back
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 Airfoil

An airfoil is the part of an airplane that is designed to produce

lift. The parts specifically designed to produce lift include the
wing and the tail surface.
In modern aircraft, the designers usually provide an airfoil
shape to even the fuselage. A fuselage may not produce much
lift, and this lift may not be produced until the aircraft is flying
relatively fast, but every bit of lift helps
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 Leading – Trailing Edges

•Leading Edge
The leading edge of an airfoil is the portion that meets the air first.
The shape of the leading edge depends upon the function of the
airfoil.
If the airfoil is designed to operate at high speed, its leading edge
will be very sharp, as on most current fighter aircraft.
If the airfoil is designed to produce a greater amount of lift at a
relatively low rate of speed, as in a Cessna or Mushshak, the leading
edge will be thick and fat
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 Leading – Trailing Edges

•Trailing Edge
The trailing edge is the back of the airfoil, the portion at which the
airflow over the upper surface joins the airflow over the lower
surface.
The design of this portion of the airfoil is just as important as the
design of the leading edge. This is because the air flowing over the
upper and lower surfaces of the airfoil must be directed to meet
with as little turbulence as possible, regardless of the position of the
airfoil in the air
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 Chord

• Chord
The chord of an airfoil is an imaginary straight line drawn through
the airfoil from its leading edge to its trailing edge.
We might think of this chord line as the starting point for drawing
or designing an airfoil in cross section. It is from this baseline that
we determine how much upper or lower camber there is and how
wide the wing is at any point along the wingspan. The chord also
provides a reference for certain other measurements, as we shall
see.
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 Camber

• Camber
The camber of an airfoil is the characteristic curve of its upper
or lower surface.
The camber determines the airfoil's thickness. But, more
important, the camber determines the amount of lift that a
wing produces as air flows around it.
A high-speed, low-lift airfoil has very little camber. A low-
speed, high-lift airfoil, like that on the Cessna 150, has a very
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 Mean Camber Line

• Mean Camber Line

It is the major design feature of an airfoil. It is the locus
of points halfway between the upper and lower surfaces
as measured perpendicular to the mean camber line
itself.
The most forward and rearward points of the mean
camber line are the leading and trailing edge
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1. Set up leading edge
and trailing edge and
construct chord line
between them.
2. Add curvature with
camber line.
3. Wrap thickness about
camber line to form
upper surface.
4. Wrap the same
thickness under the
camber line to form
lower surface.
5. Final airfoil shape.

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 Angle Incidence

• Angle Of Incidence
The angle of incidence is the angle at which the wing is
permanently inclined to the airplane’s longitudinal axis.
Choosing the right angle of incidence can improve flight
visibility, enhance take-off and landing characteristics and reduce
drag in level flight
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 Angle Of Attack

• Angle Of Attack
The angle of attack is defined as the angle between the plane of
the wing (airfoil chord) and the direction of motion (free stream
velocity).
The angle of attack can be varied to increase or decrease the lift
acting on the wing. An increase in lift often results in an increase
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Angle of attack (AOA, α, Greek letter alpha) is a term used
in fluid dynamics to describe the angle between a reference
line on a lifting body (often the chord line of an airfoil) and
the vector representing the relative motion between the
lifting body and the fluid through which it is moving. Angle
of attack is the angle between the lifting body's reference
line and the oncoming flow. This article focuses on the most
common application, the angle of attack of a wing or airfoil
moving through air.

In Aerodynamics, angle of attack is used to describe the angle between the chord line of
the wing of a fixed-wing aircraft and the vector representing the relative motion between
the aircraft and the atmosphere. Since a wing can have twist, a chord line of the whole
wing may not be definable, so an alternate reference line is simply defined. Often, the
chord line of the root of the wing is chosen as the reference line. Another alternative is to
use a horizontal line on the fuselage as the reference line (and also as the longitudinal
axis).[1]

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 Axes Of Aircraft

• Axes of Aircraft
There are three axes around which the airplane
moves. These axes all pass through the airplane's
center of gravity, which is that point which is the
center of the airplane's total weight
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What motion is it? Rolling

What are the axis or motion Longitudinal

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What motion is it? Pitching

What are the axis or motion Lateral

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What motion is it? Yawing

What are the axis or motion

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 Wing Span

• Wing Span
The span is the total
length of the wing. It is
the distance between the
wing tips.

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The wingspan of an aircraft is always measured in a straight line, from wingtip to
wingtip, independently of wing shape or sweep.

The red line (marked AB) shows the wing span of this Aer Lingus Airbus A320-200 (EI-
CVA). Notice that the sweep of the wing is not taken account of when measuring the
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span.
 Aspect Ratio

• Aspect Ratio
The aspect ratio of a wing is the relationship between the
length or span of the wing and its width or chord. It is computed
by dividing the span by the average chord. This can also be found
by dividing square of span by the area of the wing, i.e.
Aspect Ratio = span2 /area of wing

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• Planform
The shape of the wing, when
viewed from above looking down
onto the wing, is called the
planform. Wings come in many
different planforms:
 rectangular
 triangular
 trapezoidal
 or even in complex
combinations like the Shuttle

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• Rectangular Straight Wing

• Tapered Straight Wing

• Rounded or Elliptical
Straight Wing

• Slight Sweepback Wing

• Moderate Sweepback Wing

• Great Sweepback Wing

• Forward Sweep Wing

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 Dihedral

When a wing is inclined upwards from the lateral axis, the

included angle is known as dihedral angle.
It gives the up-ward or positive slope of the wings or tail flats.

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 Anhedral

When a wing is inclined downwards from the lateral axis, the

included angle is known as anhedral angle.
It gives the downward or negative slope of the wings or tail
flats
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• Center Of Pressure (CP)
A point along the airfoil about which the moment due to the
lift is zero, i.e., it is the point of action of the lift.
The center of pressure will change its position when the angle
of attack changes

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